That's one of several intriguing findings from a new study
on the impact siblings have on one another. Brigham Young University professor
Laura Padilla-Walker is the lead author on the research, which also sorts out
the influence of siblings and the influence of parents within families.
"Even after you account for parents' influence,
siblings do matter in unique ways," said Padilla-Walker, who teaches in
BYU's School of Family Life. "They give kids something that parents
don't."
Padilla-Walker's research stems from BYU's Flourishing
Families Projectand will appear in the August issue of the Journal of Family
Psychology. The study included 395 families with more than one child, at least
one of whom was an adolescent between 10 and 14 years old. The researchers
gathered a wealth of information about each family's dynamic, then followed up
one year later. Statistical analyses showed that having a sister protected
adolescents from feeling lonely, unloved, guilty, self-conscious and fearful.
It didn't matter whether the sister was younger or older, or how far apart the
siblings were agewise.
Brothers mattered, too. The study found that having a loving
sibling of either gender promoted good deeds, such as helping a neighbor or
watching out for other kids at school. In fact, loving siblings fostered
charitable attitudes more than loving parents did. The relationship between
sibling affection and good deeds was twice as strong as that between parenting
and good deeds.
"For parents of younger kids, the message is to
encourage sibling affection," said Padilla-Walker. "Once they get to
adolescence, it's going to be a big protective factor."
Many parents justifiably worry about the seemingly endless
fighting between siblings. The study found hostility was indeed associated with
greater risk of delinquency. Yet Padilla-Walker also sees a silver lining in
the data: The fights give children a chance to learn how to make up and to
regain control of their emotions, skills that come in handy down the road.
"An absence of affection seems to be a bigger problem
than high levels of conflict," Padilla-Walker said.
We love our siblings to death, well more or less. Without
them our childhood wouldn’t be as fun as it was. Having someone to talk to,
play with and even fight is an unforgettable part of our memories. One day
we’ll look back to all of those old days and feel nostalgia about our
childhood.
Having siblings is a good thing. Well, not always.
Especially when you’re doing something important and your younger sibling
always ruins your plans… we’ve all been there. There’s new YouTuber called AJ Akoko who has been a
YouTube sensation so far. He has managed to get around 7k subscribers within a
month and thousands of views. In his video: “OLDER VS YOUNGER SIBLING” he
describes perfectly hwo it is do deal with a younger sibling. We invite you to
watch it yourself.
Follow
AJ on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aj_akoko/
